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The Raiders are the team featured on HBO's Hard Knocks this season, but the Cardinals offense took a lot of hard knocks Thursday night in the second preseason game against Oakland. It was ugly.
Now, you don't want to overreact to the second preseason game when players are still seeing limited action. Cardinals receiver Larry Fitzgerald said as much during the broadcast on ESPN.
Fitzgerald said the team is playing at a different speed in practice and doing a lot of no-huddle. The Cardinals have not shown us that yet through two preseason outings.
"We're not really running a lot of our stuff," Fitzgerald said.
Still, it's hard to feel confident in the Cardinals after their performance against the Raiders, mostly because of the offensive line, which also struggled in the first preseason game against the Chargers. It might be time to downgrade David Johnson and Kyler Murray, who are being drafted with high expectations.
On Thursday, Johnson had four carries for 6 yards (1.5 yards per carry) and one catch for minus-3 yards on one target. Murray was 3 of 8 passing for 12 yards, along with one carry for 4 yards.
The CBS Sports Average Draft Position has Johnson as the No. 6 running back off the board at No. 8 overall. The running backs being selected ahead of him are Saquon Barkley, Alvin Kamara, Christian McCaffrey, Ezekiel Elliott and Le'Veon Bell.
Expect Johnson to fall now, and you should draft Nick Chubb, James Conner and Joe Mixon ahead of him. I dropped Johnson from a late first-round pick into early Round 2.
I'm still confident Johnson will be productive this season. But when you compare him to other guys in the same range like Chubb, Conner, Mixon and Bell, it's hard to argue Johnson is better right now. That could change if he has a strong performance in the third preseason game at Minnesota next week, which hopefully happens.
Murray played better in the first preseason game against the Chargers when he was 6 of 7 passing for 44 yards, but he regressed against the Raiders, especially under pressure. He also was called for two false start penalties for fake clapping and took a safety, and he struggled to connect with Christian Kirk and Larry Fitzgerald.
The CBS ADP is lower on Murray than other ADP sites, and he's the No. 13 quarterback off the board now at 96.3 overall. I had him ranked in my top 10 prior to facing the Raiders, but I need to see him do more against the Vikings to keep him there.
I'm going to drop Murray behind Lamar Jackson (more on him below), Russell Wilson, Drew Brees and Ben Roethlisberger to the No. 14 quarterback, but he could improve his stock with a solid outing against Minnesota.
As for Kirk and Fitzgerald, who are the two prominent Fantasy receivers for the Cardinals, I'm keeping them where they are. Kirk is my No. 29 receiver in PPR (No. 30 in non-PPR), and Fitzgerald is at No. 41 in PPR (No. 45 in non-PPR).
Kirk's ADP is at 83.6 overall, and Fitzgerald is at 111.1 overall. I'm fine with both of those receivers in those spots, but I'd love to see this Cardinals offense improve against the Vikings next week, especially the offensive line.
Now, let's take a look at some other ADP data with players who are rising and falling heading into the second week of preseason action.
By Position
Quarterbacks
Jackson is on the rise, and his ADP is at 125.5. He's the No. 17 quarterback off the board, but I like him as a top-10 option. He's one of my favorite quarterbacks to wait for on Draft Day, and he should exceed his ADP by a lot if he stays outside of the top 100 overall players.
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I'm curious to see how far Luck will fall now that his status for Week 1 (and maybe more games) is in doubt because of his lower leg injury. He's still the No. 4 quarterback off the board at 49.9 overall, but he's trending down. I dropped Luck from the No. 4 quarterback to No. 15, and I would not draft him as a starter right now.
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Running Backs
I was down on Carson at the start of training camp since he was coming off minor knee surgery this offseason, and I expected Rashaad Penny to get more work. Penny should have a bigger role, but Carson isn't fading away. In fact, he could have an increased role in the passing game while still leading the team in carries. His ADP is at 47.5 and rising, and I would draft him toward the beginning of Round 4.
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Sanders performed well in the second preseason game at Jacksonville with five carries for 31 yards (6.2 yards per carry), and he looked explosive. Granted, he was playing against backups for the Jaguars, but the Eagles also rested Carson Wentz for this game. Everyone in Philadelphia continues to rave about Sanders, including CBS Sports Senior NFL Writer Pete Prisco, who was at Thursday's game. He still has to contend with Jordan Howard and Darren Sproles stealing touches, but Sanders is a great value at his current ADP at 77.8 overall.
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Drake's ADP is at 55.6 overall, and he's going to fall now that he's in a walking boot with a foot injury. He might not be ready for Week 1, and Round 5 is too soon for Drake in any format. Round 7 is the earliest you should consider Drake, but you might want to pass on him for Kalen Ballage, who has an ADP of 116.6. However, that will rise now that Drake is hurt.
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The latest report on Gordon from ESPN said his holdout from the Chargers could last into the regular season, and the two sides have "not made progress" on a new deal. We don't know if that means one game or many, but it's hard to justify drafting Gordon at his current ADP at 26.1. The earliest I'm drafting Gordon in any format is Round 4.
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Wide Receivers
I continue to write and talk about Godwin because he's one of my favorite players this season. He was last year as well, but I'm even more excited about his outlook this year, especially with DeSean Jackson and Adam Humphries gone in Tampa Bay. Godwin's ADP has risen to 55.6, but that should continue to go up. I'm drafting Godwin in Round 4.
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No receiver has seen a bigger spike in ADP than Samuel, who is up to 113.9. Part of his rise is that he started so low in the early ADP data, but no receiver -- or player for that matter — has received more positive reviews than Samuel in training camp. I've been excited about Samuel for several months now, and he's being drafted as early as Round 5. That might be too soon, and you should draft D.J. Moore (ADP of 74.0 overall) ahead of Samuel. But I expect Samuel's ADP to rise into the Round 8 range soon — and possibly go higher.
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Brown's ADP has been up and down, much like his spot in the rankings, given his recent saga. On top of missing time with an injury to his feet, he also had the situation with his helmet. But everything is resolved now, and Brown was even on the field with his team Thursday night before Oakland's preseason game against Arizona. He didn't play, but he should return to practice soon. Brown's ADP is at 23.8, which is slightly too high, but early Round 3 is a good spot for him.
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Cooper is dealing with an injury to his foot/heel area, which isn't considered serious, but he's not going to play in the rest of the preseason. He's expected to be fine for Week 1, but Fantasy managers are concerned. His ADP has dropped to 34.8 overall, and we'll see if he slips out of the third round. I'm still taking Cooper in Round 3 for now unless we find out his injury is more serious and will cause him to miss any games that count.
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Tight Ends
McDonald's ADP is up to 106.9 overall, and he's the No. 10 tight end off the board. I like him slightly better than that, and I consider him a breakout candidate in 2019. The Steelers have plenty of production to replace with Antonio Brown and Jesse James gone, and this should be a career year for McDonald. He's a tight end to target on Draft Day.
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Njoku is dealing with a knee injury, although he's expected to be fine for Week 1. It just might be hard to trust him as a Fantasy starter coming into the year. His ADP is at 97.6 overall, and he's the No. 9 tight end off the board. I'd rather have McDonald, Austin Hooper, Delanie Walker, Jordan Reed and Mark Andrews, who are all going after Njoku. He's not a bad tight end to wait for on Draft Day, but I wouldn't plan to covet him either.
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So which Fantasy Football busts should you avoid in your draft? And which superstar QB isn't a trustworthy QB1 option? Visit SportsLine now to get Fantasy Football cheat sheets from the model that called Allen Robinson's disappointing season, and find out.
